Bok skipper is anyone’s guess
STORMERS FLANK COULD LEAD SA IN JUNE TESTS Surprises on cards as Rassie gears up to name his first squad on Saturday.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has hinted there might be quite a few surprises when naming an enlarged national squad on Saturday. Injuries to top players like Lions hooker Malcolm Marx, Bulls lock Lood de Jager and Stormers lock Eben Etzebeth have influenced his planning process though.
In a further setback yesterday, it was also revealed that Bok skipper Warren Whiteley won’t feature this weekend for the Lions in their Super Rugby derby against the Stormers in Cape Town due to his ongoing knee injury and is set to miss all the June Tests.
With both Whiteley and Etzebeth still sidelined, the noises are getting louder that Stormers flank Siya Kolisi could be named as the new Bok skipper.
Erasmus said his plans are in place for the Wales Test on June 2 in Washington and the three Tests against England which follow a week later.
“We are looking at a squad of 40 getting together on Sunday of which 26 will form part of the Wales Test and we will have training sessions from Monday to Wednesday,” said Erasmus.
“The other 14 players will stay behind to start preparing for the first England Test on June 9 at Ellis Park.”
While Erasmus said it was always a setback to lose players of the calibre of Marx, Etzebeth, Whiteley and De Jager, there’s a huge pool of talent in this country.
“We are definitely not going to select conservatively,” he said. “There might be a few surprises and a lot of youngsters have stuck up their hands in both Super Rugby and by the Cheetahs in the Pro14.”
Unfortunately, no overseas players could be considered for the Welsh Test as that game falls outside the international window.
Yet if an overseas club grants permission, the likes of a Faf de Klerk (Sale Sharks) at scrumhalf could be considered as he was already according to reports been training in Stellenbosch under a watchful Bok eye according to reports.
It is also a known fact that Erasmus might be interested in other foreign players like hooker Bismarck du Plessis, fullback Willie le Roux and prop Vincent Koch.